Thieves use card skimmers, get ATM users’ money

Online: To see pictures of skimming devices, go to uniontrib.com/awareness for a customer guide from Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

• Use secure ATMs — those under video surveillance or in a bank lobby. They’re less likely to be tampered with. Thieves have to take more risk installing skimmers where there are security cameras.

• Skimming devices will stick out a few extra inches from an ATM. If something looks suspicious, find another ATM. Don’t fall for a poorly fitting device (or a sticker or sign that reads “Swipe Here First” or “Use This Machine Only”).

They’re being dragged off in chains, set on fire and mangled for their precious cash cargo. More insidious, however, is the sophisticated tampering by thieves who attach hidden cameras and electronic skimmers to steal information.

The devices scan card numbers and photograph PIN pads, and the money disappears from customers’ accounts by way of fraudulent online purchases and counterfeit cards.

One weekend last month, people came and went from the automated teller machine outside a Chase Bank on West Felicita Avenue in Escondido. They slipped in their cards, took their money and left.

Rose Flores of Escondido was one of those people. Nine days later, she tried to use her debit card and it was declined. She was missing $5,300. Flores, 59, went into the bank the next day, and one of the employees told her that several people reported the same problem.

The machine had been rigged.

“ATM skimming is approaching a billion-dollar issue,” said Robert Siciliano, a security consultant to Intelius.com, which offers identity-theft monitoring and awareness training. Thieves are using advanced equipment as they target some of the 400,000 ATMs in the United States, he said.

Banks are investing in new technologies, such as internal hardware that can jam the signal of skimming devices. But Siciliano said customers need to be aware of the problem and keep an eye out for devices affixed to the front of ATMs or cameras mounted near small mirrors or on brochure holders.

“You have to recognize this is a real problem. You can’t just blindly head up to any ATM and think that nothing is going to happen to you,” he said.

Chase Bank spokesman Gary Kishner said a skimming device was probably put on the Escondido machine, which sits in a vestibule inside the bank, the night of March 13, a Saturday. Customers who used the ATM the next day were affected, he said.

The skimmer was discovered by an employee either late that Sunday or early Monday, Kishner said.

The thieves used Flores’ information on a fake card to withdraw $500 at three ATMs and make purchases at a Walmart in Paramount, a Sports Chalet in Porter Ranch and a Home Depot in San Francisco, where the card was used for $2,000.